Vernelle's Motel

Vernelle's Motel was known as the Gasser Tourist Court when it was first built in 1938 by E. P. Gasser. The motel stands on an lightly traveled stretch of old Route 66 and an abandoned alignment of I-44 between Doolittle and Arlington Missouri. The original complex included a filling station, a store, and six cabins.

GPD: 37.939082,-91.942753

The name changed when Fred, and his wife Vernelle Gasser bought the property in 1952. Fred was E.P. Gassers nephew. They added a 100 seat restaurant, a Cities Service Gas Station and a 12 unit motel to the site. In the early 1960s the Goodridge family bought the property and family members ran it until 2016 when it closed.

The bottom billboard features a Route 66 shield and a prominent "Exit Now" to help get drivers on I-44 know where to get off and find a nights lodging.

In a seemingly endless series of changes first Route 66 was expanded to 4 lanes in 1957 and made it necessary to move the restaurant out of the way and tear down 5 of the 6 cabins. Then in 1968 I-44 came along and required more changes including a service road which meant the end of the restaurant and then about 2006 I-44 was moved from in front of the motel to behind it and out of site. Now the motel sits south of the current I-44 and just west of Exit 176 (Sugar Tree Rd).

In this 2012 photo the other side the sign is getting a bit overgrown. The postal address for the motel is in Newburg, MO, but the motel is actually on the road between Doolittle and Arlington. The restaurant stood between the building on the right in this photo and the original 4 lane Route 66. The motel closed in 2016.

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Vintage Advertising Highlights

VERNELLE'S MOTEL & RESTAURANT
Hiway 66 - 8 Miles West of Rolla, Mo.
Air-Conditioned Rooms
Phone ROgers 2-**** Newburg, Mo.
(National Travel Association Logo)

NOTE: The mailing address was Newburg, but the motel site was on Route 66 between Doolittle and Arlington.
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Photo(s): 2012